Editorial: Lyon case shows need for protection

This week may bring an end to one of the most tortuous — and expensive — legal episodes in Michigan history.

Nick Lyon

This week may bring an end to one of the most tortuous — and expensive — legal episodes in Michigan history.

A 10-month preliminary exam for state health Director Nick Lyon is expected to end Wednesday with a Genesee County district judge deciding by July 25 whether prosecutors commissioned by Attorney General Bill Schuette have enough evidence to bring Lyon to trial.

We are not making a value judgment on lives lost to Legionnaires' disease, but we suspect this case has more to do with Mr. Schuette's gubernatorial bid than righting a wrong in Flint.

Putting Lyon on trial could have a chilling effect that would haunt Michigan for years to come. State administrators — if they could be lured into public service in the first place — may hesitate to make big decisions.

Lyon is facing involuntary manslaughter charges for the Legionnaires' disease-related deaths of two men, among 12 fatal incidents of the disease that happened concurrently with the Flint water crisis.

Lyon's case, and similar charges against state Chief Medical Officer Eden Wells, hinge on whether Flint residents should have been warned of an increase in Legionnaires' incidences in 2014 and 2015.

Perhaps they should have been, though conclusive evidence that the switch of Flint's water supply was responsible for the outbreak is still unclear. The state health department also produced evidence the increase was connected with plumbing at McLaren Flint hospital.

It was a judgment call. Lyon may have made the wrong judgment in not warning people sooner.

But that should not rise to the level of criminality, especially given that scientific experts are still debating what caused the outbreak.

It's been an expensive debate for Michigan taxpayers. The Department of Health and Human Services' legal tab so far, which the state is paying, amounts to $5.3 million. More than a quarter of that has gone to Lyon's defense. That doesn't account for other state legal costs and the millions of dollars Schuette has spent on special prosecutor Todd Flood's scattershot operation investigating the water crisis, which could bring the total state legal bill north of $30 million.

Simply put: Putting Lyon on trial would set a terrible precedent for how we police state officials.

In government, officials need some level of security they won't be prosecuted simply for doing their jobs. They often are called on to make decisions that can have life-or-death consequences.

The law recognizes this necessity. Police officers and firefighters have strong protections against civil or criminal charges stemming from actions they take while performing their jobs. State officials should have the same.

Sometimes officials have to make decisions based on imperfect information, but fear of criminal consequences is likely to make them choose the safe option or choose inaction over action. If they fear being prosecuted for not warning the public, we will see an epidemic of state officials crying wolf.

There's already enough CYA in government; the law shouldn't encourage it further.